The Morning After the Life Before
by Eeneo
Summary: Hinny one shot about the morning after The Battle of Hogwarts


Harry strained his ears for the sounds he had become accustomed to, and felt nervous without. Be that as it may, his ears did not pick up Hermione's laboured breathing nor Ron's loud snores and his ears definitely picked up no brushing of the wind against the canvas tent.

Harry's heart jumped suddenly. _It was over. _

The beating slowed as his excitement was crushed.

It couldn't be over.

It just couldn't.

But slowly foggy memories leaked back into his mind; all the pain came rushing back. The lives lost, Ginny's hopeless scream when she thought he was dead, the crushed expressions of all the Weasleys as that sat at the celebratory meal. Despite everything a small smile rose on his lips. If the pain was real, it had to be over.

Suddenly Harry's straining ears were filled with the sound of someone closing the door quietly. The fear oh-so-suddenly came flooding back, he pulled out his wand which he had placed in the pocket of the pyjamas and darted it out in front of him. 'Accio glasses!' he shouted, his glasses hit his nose with a small thud and he jumped up in bed.

Before his eyes could focus he heard a small snort. He knew that snort anywhere. It was the snort of a life that didn't belong to him. The snort that made his heart leap despite it's slight vulgarness, because it was that slight vulgarness to Ginny that made her shine.

'Harry, I just spent half an hour getting my brother - and by the looks of the way they were undressing each other with their eyes - my future sister-in-law out of this room and you welcome me by attempting to attack me?' She snorted again. Harry took a sharp breath in. Ginny was still Ginny. Her fiery hair was pulled in to a high pony tail which tilted slightly to the left, her creamy skin was perhaps covered with even more freckles than ever, and yes, she was covered in bruises, and her intense amber eyes were ringed with tired black, but nothing had changed.

'Ron and Hermione are downstairs?' Harry asked nervously. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to Ginny, words like "I love you", "I missed you", "please stay with me forever" seemed selfish to say when he had basically caused the death of her brother less than 24 hours ago.

'They were but Hermione said something about going to check the kitchens - or rather the remains of the kitchens - to see how the elves were doing.'

Harry smiled weakly, he was now feeling more drained than ever, possibly as he was right in front of Ginny, but yet felt powerless to say all the things he had wanted to, 'that sounds like her.'

Ginny nodded. Her back was leaned up against the door of the Gryffindor dormitory. It now only had two four posters as only Neville and Seamus had been able to attend Hogwarts that year. Harry didn't remember any discussion about who was going to sleep on the floor, but he suspected Ron would have rather faced another night on a hard ground than let Hermione face it. He felt slightly guilty he himself hadn't slept there. Ron had done so much for him.

Harry's green orbs slowly edged back up to meet Ginny's amber ones. The silence between them was profound.

'Harry, it's over,' Ginny's whisper sent goosebumps shooting up his arms. Harry who was still dumbly stood up on the four poster allowed himself to slide back down on to the bed until he was sat down.

'The pain's not.'

'The pain is always going to be there' Ginny's words were penetrating and caused another long silence.

'Ginny, I'm so-'

'Don't you dare!' Ginny screamed charging forwards until she angrily grabbed on to the end of the four poster. Harry scrambled back into the headboard. 'Don't you dare say sorry! Don't let me ever catch you speaking like that about this war ever.'

'But-'

'Harry Potter, have you even once in your life uttered the words "avada kedavra"?' She demanded. Harry stayed in his stunned form. He blinked twice slowly.

'I haven't.'

'And did you personally...' her voice wobbled 'kill Fred?'

Harry tried to whisper the word "no" but his voice box just wouldn't work and he only mouthed the word. Ginny wiped her moist eyes with the back of her hand roughly.

'Harry, when we broke up at the end of sixth year, that hurt. A lot. But I still don't want you to say sorry about that! Just don't!' Ginny was rapidly becoming hysterical while Harry's brain seemed to have escaped him rendering him paralysed.

'It hurt more when you left my brother's wedding halfway through without saying goodbye and then went on the run for months. And I thought that was the worst pain, but it wasn't. Because you-' she stabbed her finger accusingly '-just bring out so much fucking emotion in me, so yeah, the pain got worse day by day, and then got a thousand times worse when I couldn't return to Hogwarts after winter break, because I was suddenly helpless! A damsel in distress! At least here I could feel some of the pain you were going through, and I could continue the DA stuff you started! But then I was just left alone for months in that house with nothing to do apart from sit and linger over every bit of news. And then I fucking find out you're at my brother's house, and I'm fucking overjoyed' Ginny grabbed at her hair 'and I begged them to let me come and fucking see you, but they refused. And do you know what? When I saw you, I was terrified, and it was still great to see you. And now, I'm just feeling so fucking guilty' a tear fell down Ginny's freckled cheek 'because losing Fred is horrific, but I still felt worse when I thought you were dead! And that's making me feel so fucking guilty - oh and I also want to slap you for pretending you were fucking dead! - but I still don't want you to say sorry.'

Harry felt his heart break just looking at her. She was as tearful and snotty nosed as the day he had saved her from the chamber, only he didn't feel so heroic now.

'Harry I said I didn't want you to say sorry. I didn't say I didn't want you to say anything.'

'I watched your dot.'

Ginny's confused expression told him he should elaborate.

'On the Marauders map. I watched it for hours. I thought about trying to come and see you too, but I couldn't. I saw Neville's dot next to yours a lot and I felt jealous that I couldn't be there instead. I listened to the radio every day to check you were still alive.'

There was yet another long pause.

'Harry I want you to say sorry in the future.'

'Okay.' Harry said solemnly. Ginny shook her head.

'No, _Harry_, you don't _understand_. I want you to say sorry when you don't have time to come and meet me in Hogsmeade, I want you to say sorry when you overcook our dinner, when you leave a red sock in the washing pot and all my white t shirts stain pink, I want you to say sorry when you come home from work late, which I know you'll be doing a lot no matter what job you go into because that's what you're like' Ginny let out a watery smile 'basically I want my boyfriend to say sorry when he does things that are actually his fault.'

'Boyfriend?' Harry echoed, for the first time in a long time he allowed the corners of his lips to twitch up. Suddenly something flowed in to him that felt a lot like the years of teenage cheekiness he had never gotten to fully explore aside from those few glorious weeks in sixth year with Ginny where everything had been _so_ good. 'What if I don't want to be your boyfriend?'

Ginny shot him a doubtful look, 'Harry, come here' she whispered seductively. Like a veela calling Harry felt himself being drawn over to the foot of the bed where she was leaning. Suddenly a sharp pain flooded his right cheek. She had slapped him!

'That, Mr Potter, was for playing dead yesterday,' she pulled him towards her by sliding a finger in to the collar of his jersey pyjamas (Harry had no idea where they had come from, but he was grateful for them none the less).

'And-' she whispered '-I do believe that you want to be my boyfriend.'

Harry grinned as their faces continued to get closer and closer, 'you might just be smarter than Hermione.'

'Mmm?' Ginny murmured as they closed the final few millimeters between them. Their lips met softly, and then powerfully as they simultaneously grabbed each other and tried to express every emotion the war had prevented them feeling in just under a year.

Then, Harry's cheek became damp. Wondering why, he pulled back away from the girl he had missed so much.

She was crying.

'Sorry Harry, it's just-'

'I thought you said not to say sorry for things that aren't your fault?' Harry said softly. Ginny climbed over the side of the bed to hug him tightly. She pressed her head in to his shoulder, and he pressed his face in to her hair, allowing the familiar scent to waft into his nostrils.

The war had been tough and erratic, and the aftermath was going to be the same, if not worse. But despite Ginny's tears, Harry felt something he hadn't in a long time; hope.


End file.
